Passport Diary

The Virgin Galactic Mothership Eve, has successfully completed its third test flight. Spending over two and a half hours in the Troposphere at a maximum speed of 140 knots, the testing went beautifully. The positive outcome of these last few tests means that Virgin Galactic expect to be testing in space next year.

Mothership Eve flew at over 18,000 ft altitude and in subsequent testing, the White Knight 2 will soar to 50,000 ft of the next few months.

There were a further seven successful operations during this test period, which saw engine restarts during the flight and thrust asymmetry checks. It’s the largest all carbon composite aircraft in the world and many of the parts used to build the ship have been built using composite materials for the first time.

Speaking of the craft, Peter Siebold – pilot of all three tests for the ship, said:

“This is a truly remarkable aviation vehicle and, although it might look unique from the ground it is not strange to fly in any way and is in fact a great piloting experience.

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson confirmed his excitement for the project and hinted at when we might see it publicly launched:

I am looking forward to flying myself in Eve in the next few weeks before we attach SpaceShipTwo later in the year and begin test flights to space shortly afterwards! Virgin Galactic is central to our ambition at Virgin to become the world’s leading group in the operation of energy and environmentally efficient transportation, in the air, on the ground and in space.

Mothership Eve is the carrier and launch platform for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, which is the successor to SpaceShipOne – the first spaceplane to complete a privately funded human spaceflight.

Public space flights, here we come!